Janna Wertz, Certified ISR Survival Swimming Instructor

Copyright 2012, Janna Wertz, ISR Instructor, all rights reserved

I originally graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Madison with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy. In my first job out of college I taught a chronic back pain program. It was at this time, I realized my love of teaching. I went back to school and earned my secondary science teaching credential with a Biology emphasis. I taught middle school and high school until the arrival of my first son.

I first became involved with ISR in 2009 when my oldest son was two and my second son was nine months old. I love taking my children swimming, but was worried about taking them both swimming at the same time. What if I was helping one child and the other went under the water? How could they learn to get to a float and breathe at such a young age? ISR was my answer. Certified ISR Instructor Kim Moore taught my oldest son the swim-float-swim sequence and my second son the roll back to float. What an amazing experience to watch. I continued their refresher lessons yearly. Early in 2012, Kim taught my then thirteen month old son the swim-float-swim sequence before moving to Michigan. All three of my children have amazing skills in the water for their ages thanks to ISR.

I have the experience of being a parent watching on the side of the pool and cheering on my children. The ISR program is a big commitment and seeing my children crying at times due to the unfamiliarity of the water was not easy, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. The first time my then two year old lost his footing in a kiddie pool, rolled back to his float, and calmly asked if I could pick him up was priceless. Although ISR does not eliminate the need for children to be constantly supervised in the water, it does dramatically improve its students' skills and confidence in the water.

As I watched my children's lessons over the years, I thought being an ISR Instructor would be a fantastic job. After many discussions with Kim and other local ISR Instructors, I decided to do the intense 8 week training and take over teaching at the Duncan Family YMCA. I did not want to see such a valuable program leave the Arvada area. It has turned out being an ISR Instructor has been a perfect fit for both me and my family. It allows me to teach an amazing program part time and still have plenty of time with my husband and three little boys. I really love what I do and encourage anyone thinking about lessons to come and observe.